Senior Social Work Team Lead

This is an amazing opportunity to join Foster Care Associates. We are seeking a highly motivated and enthusiastic Full Time Senior/Supervising Social Worker to join our inspirational and friendly team to develop and promote the fostering services in the Yorks & Lincs area. The team office is based in Melton and we support a hybrid model of working with some flexibility to work from home. There is an expectation that staff travel to the regional office in Sheffield on occasion and that foster parents and children are visited within their home.

Set up by a former foster parent and former social worker in 1994, Foster Care Associates (FCA) is an established fostering agency which forms part of the Polaris Community - one of the UK's largest leading communities of children's service providers. The business was born out of an enthusiasm for delivering fostering services to make a positive difference to the lives of looked after children. Our first office was in the Worcestershire countryside, and that's still where our Head Office is today.

We've come a long way since those early days and, over the years, FCA has built a strong reputation for excellence, and now offers a wide range of services to children and families to make a positive and lasting difference for children, families and communities, and it's underpinned by a series of values designed to help us assist children and young people to reach their full potential. Today, we're one of the country's largest and most experienced independent fostering agencies. At FCA we're one big family, and we're committed to supporting every single child and foster parent, every single minute of the day.

• Support foster parents and their families to achieve outstanding outcomes for all children and young people in foster care.
• Supervise, support and monitor the continued suitability and competence of Foster parents ensuring they provide a safe, healthy, nurturing and learning environment for children/young people.
• Ensure that carers fully understand the fostering task, competencies to be achieved and the standards expected, including complaints and representation procedures as detailed in the FCA policies and procedures.
• Provide and record regular supervision to allocated foster parents in line with FCA's Operational Standards.
• Work in partnership in a team parenting approach to help identify any needs within the foster family e.g. respite, activities, therapy, holidays, with all members of the child's network, including contributing to all relevant meetings and any other tasks defined.
• Ensure each child and foster parent's records are fully compliant in respect of all key documentation.
• Attend meetings and/or provide reports for Commissioning Teams to address individual packages of care.
• Promote participation of children/young people in the development of the agency and in accessing resources and opportunities in their local community.
• Participate in an 'out of hours' support service on a rota basis.

Requirements:

• A Social Work qualification
• Professional registration with Social Work England or equivalent
• Proven ability to produce a high standard of report writing
• A comprehensive working knowledge of relevant legislation and child safeguarding procedures
• The willingness and ability to travel extensively across the Yorkshire/Humberside/Lincs area
• Confidence with transporting children and young people in sometimes stressful/difficult situations
• Full driving licence

No agencies please. Foster Care Associates is an equal opportunities employer and has been awarded the disability confident employer by the jobcentre plus. The successful applicant will be subject to a DBS check at enhanced level if successful for the position.